Postural control of pre-term infants at 6 and 12 months corrected age.

MedLine Citation:

PMID:
20591583
Owner:
NLM
Status:
MEDLINE

Abstract/OtherAbstract:

BACKGROUND: Pre-term infants are at high risk for motor disabilities. Postural control, the basis for motor development, develops rapidly during the first year of life. An early start to extra-uterine life with an immature motor system may influence a pre-term infant's postural control.AIMS: To identify important prognostic factors and determine the difference in postural control between full-term and pre-term infants.METHOD: Medical records of 93 pre-term infants with birth weight of less than 1501g (mean birth weight=1136.03+/-243.86g; mean gestational age=29.14+/-2.78 weeks) were reviewed. Data was collected from the preemie clinical follow-up program at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.RESULTS: Results demonstrated that pre-term infants had poorer postural control than full-term infants both at 6 and 12 months adjusted age, and that medical complication as measured by the Neonatal Medical Index was the best predictor of postural control in pre-term infants in the first year of life. In addition, our findings confirmed that the development of postural control at 6 months adjusted age predicts the development of postural control at 12 months adjusted age after controlling for prognostic factors.CONCLUSIONS: Both biological and social environmental factors appeared to be associated with pre-term infants' postural control at 6 and 12 months adjusted age. The development of postural control at 6 months adjusted age predicted the development of postural control at 12 months adjusted age. This suggested the value of early follow-up examinations at 6 months adjusted age.